I know what you’re thinking, and no it wasn’t at Alfond Arena. It was in Portland, Maine at the Cumberland County Civic Center. On January 6, 2002 the Maine Black Bears took on the Dartmouth Big Green at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

At the time I don’t recall going to a hockey game before as I was only 8 at the time, so this was my first hockey game. There’s no better way to see your first hockey game than to cheer for the university that has been part of the family as it’s chalk full of UMaine alum.

Only found photo from the game. Photo taken by Kevin Bennett of the BDN

Of note the only player in the game that I could recognize by name was Peter Metcalf played; Martin Kariya was out with the flu. Tim Whitehead was the interim head coach of the Black Bears as the death of the great Shawn Walsh had just happened just over three months prior.

Overall I remember it being a great game for the Black Bears as they won handily 4-1. As this was my first game it left an impression on me and what set the stage for my Maine Black Bears fandom in the years to come.

From that point I started attending the annual game at the Civic Center every year. It wasn’t until I came here as a freshman (Fall ’11) that I got to attend a game at the Alfond. It was against Providence around Halloween weekend.

Nowadays, I’m glad the Black Bears are returning games to the Civic Center as I feel it’s important to cater to the southern part of the state that isn’t always able/willing to drive 2 hours and pay $50/$23 per ticket to see a game at the Alfond.

For anyone reading this, feel free to tell me about your first game. Where, when, and who did Maine play would be the basic idea to post, if you have anything special that goes with it feel free to add on.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/04/30/2013-14-season/i-remember-my-first-time/feed/0646Recap of Everything Maine Black Bearshttp://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/04/12/2013-14-season/recap-of-everything-maine-black-bears/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/04/12/2013-14-season/recap-of-everything-maine-black-bears/#respondSat, 12 Apr 2014 13:00:39 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=636Hello folks, sorry for the hiatus without posting, I’ve been busy with academics and life in general as my time in my third year here at the University of Maine nears its conclusion.

There’s been a lot going on since the season ended almost a month ago. Here’s a shortlist of some news and updates.

Season Recap

With the season over, the WMEB Sports hockey crew for the 2013-14 season recapped the season on Tape-to-Tape a few weeks ago.

For next year, I’ll move up to the position as the Play-by-Play man for the broadcasts, the rest of my crew is to be determined at a later date.

Captains Selected For 2014-15 Season

Devin Shore

Less than 48 hours after the 13-14 season came to a conclusion, the Black Bears had announced the captains for the 2014-15 season. Soon-to-be junior forward Devin Shore was named the captain for the Black Bear squad. The Sophomore managed a 14-29-43 stat line in his second year and finishing for the second year as the team’s leading scorer.

The Alternate captains were also named, soon-to-be seniors Stu Higgins and Jake Rutt. Higgins had a decent year as a second line center, his season was cut short on Jan 21 when a knee injury in an exhibition game ended his season. He did register a 6-4-10 stat line in 20 games played. This was an expected choice as he seems to be one of the vocal leaders in the locker room and arguably his injury was the turning point of the season.

The one that caught some people by surprise was the selection of Jake Rutt. The junior defensemen statistically didn’t produce much, but he was great defensemen when he managed to stay out of the penalty box. He managed to stay out of the box in the middle of the year, but the beginning and end were a different story. Some would argue why him? Well he’s a defensemen, with two captains being forwards it would only make sense to have a defender as one of the three. Also I don’t feel that Ben Hutton is a leader just yet, if he sticks around for his senior year (15-16) I feel he’ll get captaincy duties. I like the choice of Rutt personally as he’s the only senior defensemen so it works perfectly, while he’s racked his fair share of penalty minutes, when he stays out of the box he’s a force to be reckoned with as a solid defender.

Departures

With the season ending, this means that the seniors begin to depart from campus in hopes of making it in pro hockey.

First to go was captain Brice O’Connor as he signed a contract with the ECHL club, the Stockton Thunder. The Stockton Thunder is a minor league affiliate of the New York Islanders, it’s kind of like the Portland Sea Dogs to the Boston Red Sox for those that don’t understand the ECHL. He was reunited with teammate Joey Diamond who was recently demoted from Bridgeport. He however was released on April 3rd, no indication of any future activity this season. He contributed one assist in seven games and was involved in a line brawl with Joey Diamond against former Merrimack foe Kyle Bigos.

Mark Anthoine was the second as he signed with the Evansville IceMen, the ECHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s yet to register a point in four games, and wears the number 11.

Jon Swavely joined the departure party as he headed home to Reading, Pa to be part of the Reading Royals, the ECHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. However he was quickly released after just one game, his future is currently unknown.

Meanwhile the two goaltenders are still here in Orono, indications have shown that the Blue Jackets have no interest in Martin Ouellette. However Columbus does hold his rights until June 5th, or 30 days after his departure from school (end of the semester). Also no word on Dan Sullivan’s future as well, he’s been seen around campus.

Stu Higgins Injury Update

It’s been almost four months since Stu Higgins ended his season with a knee injury, arguably the turning point in the season. He had knee surgery at the end of February and he’s in the middle of the rehab process. I caught up with him last week and he said “I’ve been riding the bike [lately].” He also told me there’s no time table set yet, but he’s expected to return for the season.

Schedule forming

With the college hockey season coming to a close, many teams are now working on schedules, some already have them released. Maine isn’t one of these teams, however there’s bits and pieces of the schedule that’s already known.

1) Maine will play in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, AK against Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks October 10 and 11 respectively.

2) Maine will travel to Union (either National Champ or runner-up, this was written before the NC game) sometime this year. Should be sometime in Oct-Nov as typical with non-conference scheduling but nothing is known yet.

3) As believed to be in exchange for the hockey tournament over Columbus Day weekend, Alaska-Anchorage will travel to Orono, Maine for a weekend series Oct 24-25

4) As part of Maine dropping from the Florida College Classic, they’ll play a neutral-site home-and-home with UNH in Manchester, NH December 12th and then in Portland, ME December 13th.

Check back in the coming weeks for more of the schedule to be unraveled.

Commitments

We’re just days away from the beginning of the period for the hockey players to sign their National Letter of Intent. The date is Wednesday April 16th, here’s the list of current verbal commitments the Black Bears have.

Sean Romeo, G, ’94

Malcolm Hayes, D, ’95

Mark Hamilton, D, ’94

Cam Spicer, D, ’96

Ryan Badger, F, ’94

Joseph Widmar, F, ’95

Nolan Vesey, F, ’95

Liam Pecararo, F, ’96

Jack Musil, F, ’93

It’ll be interesting to see if any kids de-commit as their may not be enough spaces available on the roster for these kids to make an impact. While their isn’t a roster limit, the problem is only 5 players left Maine this year, two of which were goalies. So realistically only 3 roster spots opened up for next year. But we’ll see what happens, check out my twitter @aquirko as well as @sportsWMEB for any updates about commitments as news trickles in.

Thanks all for your patience with new the post, I’ll look to start posting on a more regular basis in the coming weeks.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/04/12/2013-14-season/recap-of-everything-maine-black-bears/feed/0636Black Bear Season in Review: Team Awardshttp://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/27/2013-14-season/team-awards/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/27/2013-14-season/team-awards/#respondFri, 28 Mar 2014 00:07:16 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=607With the season over, it’s now time for me to hand out my season awards for the players. I could only come up with five major awards, feel free to comment with any other awards to hand out.

Snow-Dunham Trophy

Garth Snow & Mike Dunham. Courtesy of Monty Rand photography

Martin Ouellette, Goaltender, Senior, #51

Marty

Named after the goaltending tandem that won Maine its first national championship, Martin Ouellette stood tall as the goalie for this Black Bear team as he was called upon time and time again. Playing in 34 of the Black Bears 37 games, Martin Ouellette collected at 15-15-4 record, 2.29 GAA, .925 SV% of 1,001 shots, and recorded three shutouts (11/15 vs BU, 12/28 vs Prin, & 3/8 vs Mer). In his second season as the starter Marty solidified his legacy as one of the all-time greats to defend between here in Orono. While his future is facing uncertainty, his time at Maine won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Kariya Trophy

Paul Kariya. Courtesy of Monty Rand photography

Devin Shore, Forward, Sophomore, #94

Devin Shore

The Kariya Trophy goes to the leading scorer on the Black Bear team. Paul Kariya registered a 25-75-100 stat line in 1992-93 season on way to winning the 1993 Hobey Baker trophy, hence why he bears the name for this award. In the 2013-14 season, Devin Shore was the leading scorer for the team this season as he collected a 14-29-43 stat line. This is the second year in a row Shore has been the leading scorer on this team.

Capuano Trophy

Jack Capuano. courtesy of thestar.com

Ben Hutton, Defenseman, Sophomore, #10

The Jack Capuano Trophy is given out to the top defensemen on the Maine Black Bears. That goes to Ben Hutton who continued to make a name for himself a year as he shined among those that defended the point for the Black Bears this season. He was the number two leading scorer on the team with a 15-14-29 stat line and nationally was the leading goal scorer among defensemen. In the Hockey East quarterfinals, he set the single-season record for most goals scored by a defensemen by a Black Bear with 15 goals, surpassing the man whose name bears this award. He’ll look to continue to shine and repeat for this award next season.

Roy Trophy

Jean-Yves Roy. courtesy of tradingcardsdb.com

Cam Brown, Forward, Freshman, #21

Cam Brown

The Jean-Yves Roy Trophy is given to the best freshmen on Maine Black Bear team. Three months ago this was a tight race between line mates Cam Brown and Blaine Byron, but the home-stretch proved that Cam Brown earned the edge with a 4-15-19 stat line. While he statistically didn’t produce towards the end, he showed hustle and speed I didn’t see among the other freshmen, or anybody else for that matter at times the effort was lackluster from many. Cam Brown showed consistency over the 37 games and has earned his slot as one of the top centers on this squad.

Pellerin Trophy

Scott Pellerin. courtesy of CSTV.com

Devin Shore, Forward, Sophomore, #94

Devin Shore

The Scott Pellerin Trophy goes to the most valuable player on the Black Bear team. Without a doubt the most valuable player is the guy who has played every game this season (as well as last year) it’s Devin Shore. I don’t need to mention his stats once again as you can find it in the Kariya Trophy section of this article. Devin Shore is the heart and soul of this team and wore the A patch on his sweater well as he’s earned his way to the top captaincy for the upcoming season. His effort, skill, and passion for the game has been unmatched as he shows that he’s got a bright future in the game of hockey. My projection for Shore will be one more year at Maine, then he heads to the Dallas system afterwards.

Thanks for reading and continue to check-in for more offseason news

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/27/2013-14-season/team-awards/feed/0607Black Bear Season In Review: November 2013http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/23/2013-14-season/year-in-review/black-bear-season-in-review-nov-2013/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/23/2013-14-season/year-in-review/black-bear-season-in-review-nov-2013/#respondSun, 23 Mar 2014 19:53:26 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=600For the second installment, we take a look at the month that kicked off Hockey East play, it’s the month of November.

The Black Bears road woes continued as they only collected one point in their Hockey East opener against the Minutemen. Friday saw a goaltender’s duel in which Ouellette and Mastalerz only allowed one goal each in a tying effort. Ben Hutton was the lone goal scorer for the Black Bears.

Saturday night saw the Black Bears containing Umass through one period, but in the second it hit the fan. Eight and a half minutes in Maine gave up a goal, and only 17 seconds later the Minutemen tallied a second goal. The lead was too great as the Black Bears were only able to muster one goal as Devin Shore got his first goal of the year.

Some could argue adapting to the dimensions of Mullins Center (10 feet wider than regulation size). But nonetheless it was a disappointing series for the Black Bears as team they battled and swept a week ago having the Minutemen’s number. But this would one of the many times Maine dropped what now in hindsight were critical conference points.

The Black Bears battled hard on Friday night that saw late-game heroics in their effort to beat the Vermont Catamounts in their conference home opener. Brody Hoffman and Martin Ouellette were standing tall as both goalies dueled with Hoffman making more of the saves. Maine got a break with just under five minutes left in the gamewhen following a Vermont penalty, Connor Brickley received a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for hitting from behind. This gave the Black Bears a 5-on-3 PP for 53 seconds and a powerplay advantage for the rest of the game. Maine was able to capitalize instantly as Devin Shore found Ben Hutton down-low for the game-winning goal. Steven Swavely was able to tally a powerplay goal of his own to seal it for the Black Bears. Marty collected his first shutout of the season.

Saturday night saw a disappointing game for Maine as the Black Bears got on the board first, but Vermont would be the ones to get the last laugh. Freshman Eric Schurhamer got the scoring started, but Vermont countered with four unanswered goals to put the Black Bears down for the count. Mark Anthoine and Blaine Byron scored but it was too little too late as the Black Bears fell 4-3.

Saturday’s game proved to be one of those games the Black Bears let one get away them as they could’ve won but instead its marked as a loss. This game was one of many times when these loses would come back to bite Maine in the butt.

In the 120th meeting between these two rivals, Maine clobbered BU 7-0 in an all-around beatdown. Devin Shore and Connor Leen both scored in the first period to make it 2-0. The turning point was in the second when two Black Bear penalties saw them down 3-on-5 penalty kill for 1:25. Fortunate for Maine, BU’s defender blew a tire and Ben Hutton managed to walk in shorthanded and knock in a goal to make it 3-0. The goal was best summed up in my tweet for WMEB Sports below

The goals for Maine continued to pile on as Blaine Byron, Bill Norman, & Brian Morgan (2) scored to make it 7-0. Marty stopped 34-of-34 shots to earn the shutout, his second of the season.

While this wasn’t the same BU team from year’s past as this was the first season in the post-Jack Parker era for the Terriers; it was still a huge victory as it set the tone for a series of key victories in the coming weeks.

Following Maine’s dominating victory over BU a week prior, they battled against Hockey East juggernaut Boston College in a clash. Maine got on the board early as Devin Shore got the first goal just 37 seconds in. Ben Hutton and Ryan Lomberg followed that up with goals of their own as the Black Bears jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first. Devin Shore knocked in his second of the game off a rebound to make it 4-1 in the second, and Ben Hutton buried one in the third to make it a final of 5-1.

This helped re-establish that home dominance the Black Bears had at the Alfond. Something that was lost a season ago (12-13), but people were beginning to believe in this team as the wins kept piling up.

The Black Bears spent their Thanksgiving break up in Burlington to take on the Vermont Catamounts. On Friday, Vermont got on the board first, but Devin Shore and Steven Swavely got goals for the Black Bears in the 2nd to give Maine the lead. But minutes later the Catamounts responded with the equalizer, and late in the third period buried the game-winner to give the Catamounts the victory.

Saturday saw the Catamounts once again getting on the board first in the second period. Steven Swavely tied it up late in the second to make it tied headed into the third. But it didn’t take long for Vermont to jump back ahead just 56 seconds in, from their they asserted their dominance in a 5-2 victory. Devin Shore tallied the second goal late in the losing effort.

I, for the most part, wrote this weekend off. It was a series during break, didn’t expect too much out of this series. It was unfortunate because of how they played weeks earlier against Vermont, but the road woes continued to show. Not to discredit Vermont as they’re a good team, that’s actually in the NCAA Tournament this year.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/23/2013-14-season/year-in-review/black-bear-season-in-review-nov-2013/feed/0600Black Bear Season In Review: October 2013http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/20/2013-14-season/year-in-review/year-in-review-oct-2013/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/20/2013-14-season/year-in-review/year-in-review-oct-2013/#respondThu, 20 Mar 2014 18:29:44 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=589As the first installment of my year in review of the Black Bear season, I’m gonna be taking a look at the season month-by-month. This first piece will be where the Season began, all the way back in October.

This was the beginning of the season, and a bit of a foreshadow of what to come this year away from the Alfond as the Black Bears faltered to an 0-2 start with a pair of road losses. Freshman Blaine Byron got the first goal of the season for the Black Bears making it the second straight season a freshman scored first (Steven Swavely did it last year vs. Quinnipiac). St. Lawrence got on the Black Bears early and didn’t look back on night one.

Night two saw the Black Bears get on the board first, then give up two unanswered goals, tying it with eight minutes left in the game, only to blow it with just under five minutes left to fall yet again to the Saints. Ryan Lomberg and Mark Anthoine got the goals for the Black Bears in this one. The sweep now made it four straight victories for St. Lawrence over the Black Bears, dating back to last year.

One thing I saw that would become normal was the line pairings of Leen-Shore-Lomberg & Morgan-Brown-Byron as they’d be two of the top performing lines on this Black Bear squad.

Stu Higgin’s pair of goals led the Black Bears to their first victory of the season. By no means was it a great effort, as they had to play three-and-a-half minutes on a 3-on-5 penalty kill. The one goal given up was a faceoff that broke down with Bentley getting a shot up high blocker side on Marty. The Black Bears got their first home win of the season much earlier than last year which was a sign of things to come for the Black Bears this year at home.

Stu Higgins was the only scorer of goals in this one and Marty stopped 24 of 25 shots in the effort. As the headline for the post suggested, it was baby steps towards improvement and that was the team was committing a lot of penalties and keeping teams in the game late.

Game one featured an OT thriller that saw a goaltending dual that was phenomenal to see as Connor Leen netted the goal in OT for the victory. The Black Bears jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before allowing Umass to score two unanswered goals. Both teams had some quality chances in the third but Martin Ouellette and Steve Mastalerz were standing tall as they made some great saves in the third. Mark Anthoine & Ben Hutton were the goal scorers for the Black Bears in regulation.

In OT, Shore setup in Gretzky’s office (behind the net) and skated around till he found Connor Leen right out front and Leen buried the game-winner. I provided a video below of the goal along with Connor Leen after the game.

The radio call was great as my colleague Cody Beckett rejoiced in the victory

Night two was an offensive explosion for the Black Bears as a six-goal second period propelled the Black Bears over the Minutemen to earn the sweep. But the night didn’t get off to a nice start as the Black Bears gave up a shorthanded goal just under three minutes into the game.

Something must’ve been said in that locker room as the Black Bears came out scoring like gangbusters. Freshmen Josh Henke, Brian Morgan, Cam Brown, & Blaine Byron mounted the assault with first four goals for the Black Bears. Mark Anthoine & Jake Rutt joined in the goal party as both men scored a goal in the final minute of the second period headed into the break with a 6-2 lead.

Steven Swavely netted a shorthanded goal at the beginning of the third to make it 7-2. Umass managed to score a pair of goals to cut the defect to three, but Mark Anthoine’s empty net goal sealed the victory and the sweep for the Black Bears.

Overall the weekend was a success, it was unfortunate that this was a non-conference series cause these were points the Black Bears could’ve used (but more about that down the line).

Check back next week as I’ll have more posts of the latter months as we venture into Hockey East play.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/20/2013-14-season/year-in-review/year-in-review-oct-2013/feed/0589Home Stretch Proves Fatal For Black Bearshttp://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/17/2013-14-season/home-stretch-proves-fatal-for-black-bears/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/17/2013-14-season/home-stretch-proves-fatal-for-black-bears/#respondTue, 18 Mar 2014 01:41:22 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=577A month and a half ago the Black Bears were in great position in Hockey East.

They were sitting in sixth place with a two game advantage on most conference foes with a 13-9-3 (6-4-2) record with eight games left. Devin Shore said, “There’s no more time to waste points, every point is crucial.”

Well the home stretch of February and March wasn’t too friendly to the Black Bears as they posted a 3-6-1 record including getting swept out of the playoffs by the Providence Friars (PC beat Maine at Orono twice two weeks prior to playoff series).

“[It’s a] pretty tough pill to swallow.” Said coach Red Gendron Saturday night after getting swept out of the playoffs and virtually eliminated from the NCAA tournament ending the Black Bear’s season.

At the end of January the Black Bears had just completed seven games in a 15-day stretch that led to a few injuries. Steven Swavely was injured in the first period of Frozen Fenway that sidelined him for a month, and Stu Higgins was out for the rest of the season with a knee injury during an exhibition game.

The Black Bears were lucky to get a week off before heading to Notre Dame. What happened over the next eight games were a series of let downs, blown leads late in games, and close calls that saw the Black Bears on the cusp of home-ice in the playoffs. But instead had to travel on the road in the playoffs, where the team never could figure it out how to win, as they only had one victory out of 16 road games this year.

At times it didn’t look like their effort was there as a team like Merrimack proved quite the challenge despite winning only 3 games in conference all season. The team resorted to the way of expecting things to go their way without trying as hard at times.

Ultimately it came down to effort, and that’s why now they’re already looking towards next season. They just didn’t have the will at times that costed them dearly.

Whether it was exhaustion or just lack of effort, something will need to be done for future seasons to prevent a similar crash at the end. While I saw a lot of great things from these Black Bears, there’s still lots of work to be done in this rebuild.

Overall I believe this season was a success, granted fans need to understand this is a rebuild and it’s going to take time. Remember, Shawn Walsh didn’t make it to the tourney until his third seasons. Now with the first season with some of Red’s recruits to come in, we’ll really see how for real this team can be down the road.

Check back in the coming weeks as I will do a review of the season month-by-month

This was Marty’s fourth shutout of the season (Other three were 11/8 vs. UVM, 11/15 vs. BU, 12/28 vs. Princeton)

No save came more important than with 30 seconds left when Hampus Gustafsson intercepted a Devin Shore pass in the Black Bear zone and had a breakaway chance. Marty flat out stopped the chance as many in Black Bear nation’s heart sunk before breathing a sigh of relief moments later.

“I was able to come out and I got his shot right against my chest. Then I was able to cover it.” Said Ouellette after the game. His save was the defining moment of the game and by far the biggest save Marty has made, as he’s had some contenders for that title this season.

The game got off to a great start for Maine as a second over two minutes into the game. Senior Mark Anthoine fired a backhander than was off-speed catching Rasmus Tirronen off-gaurd. “The puck bounced to [Cerretani] up high and he had his head up. Instead of throwing it back down behind the net, he had enough poise to throw it at the net. It hit Swavely and bobbled around. I kicked it [to my stick] and just threw it on net.”

Shore hustles to negate icing. courtesy of Black Bears athletics

Devin Shore was able to notch his fourteenth goal of the season on an empty net with 16 seconds left as he hustled to a prevent an icing call as he was able to outrace the defender and knock the puck in the net to punch Maine’s ticket to Providence. It’s plays like these in why Devin Shore is the best player on the team with hustle like that in moments like these.

Merrimack was able to stay in the game as Rasmus Tirronen was having a great night himself only allowing the one goal all night, stopping 33 shots total. He faced as much pressure as Marty, if not more as he had some spectacular saves himself.

Both teams were able to stay disciplined for most of the game as both teams only got 5 penalties each. Neither team was able to capitalize off power plays in this one.

My final thoughts are that the Black Bears played well enough to win. There’s still work to be done, but it’s a great first step.

After the game, Mark Anthoine said:

Anthoine: "It's a brand new season, that was game 1. Time to move forward" #gomaine

This team still has work to done as they haven’t scored on the powerplay in their last 17 attempts. Their last powerplay goal was in the first period against Northeastern (Sat 2/22) by Ben Hutton. I imagine this will be a major point of emphasis this week in practice as Providence has one of the best penalty kills in conference.

The other thought in being how this team has struggled on the road, but that at this point it doesn’t mean anything. This team knows that it needs to win or else the season is over.

The (6) Black Bears will travel to Schneider Arena home of the (3) Providence Friars, whom Maine played last weekend. The series is best 2-out-of-3 with the winner heading to the TD Garden in Boston for the Hockey East semifinals.

Schedule:

Game 1 – Friday, March 14, 7:00 pm

Game 2 – Saturday, March 15, TBD

Game 3 – Sunday, March 16, TBD (if necessary)

Check back in during the week as I’ll write a preview for this weekend’s series.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/03/10/2013-14-season/marty-leads-black-bears-past-merrimack/feed/0566Black Bears Drop Three Big Points to Northeasternhttp://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/22/2013-14-season/maine-drop-three-points/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/22/2013-14-season/maine-drop-three-points/#respondSun, 23 Feb 2014 03:47:03 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=444It was Devin Shore who said last week, “there’s no more time to waste points, every point is crucial.”

Well apparently he wasn’t talking about their series against Northeastern as with their control of their own destiny dwindled a little as they could only grab one point in a disappointing showing against the Huskies.

They close out their road games in the regular season with an abysmal record of 1-10-3.

On night one the Black Bears battled in a shootout with the Huskies jumping out to a 2-0 lead, only to give up three unanswered goals. Maine responded with two goals of their own including Mark Anthoine’s go-ahead with just over six minutes left in the game. But then, similar to Notre Dame, the Black Bears gave up the tying goal as Braden Pimm netted the equalizer with just over one minute left in regulation. Neither team was able to get a goal in overtime resulting in a tie.

“Parts of our performance were terrific and other parts weren’t terrific. We didn’t get the win so we’re not satisfied. But the effort and compete level were there,” said Gendron after the game.

One problem for Maine on game one was the absence of Ryan Lomberg and Eric Schurhamer. Schurhamer has been out for the last few games with an undisclosed injury, while Lomberg was serving his one game suspension for elbowing a Merrimack player on Saturday. Maine was outshot and didn’t look like the better team as I would say they were lucky to have gotten the one point.

Coming into night two the Black Bears were looking to rebound and make it a three-point weekend, but it didn’t look that way early. In an exact reversal of game one, the Northeastern Huskies got off to a quick 2-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game. Maine was able to respond with Ben Hutton scoring a powerplay goal in the first and Devin Shore netting the equalizer. Northeastern didn’t flinch as they scored two more goals, one in the second and the other in the third, to make in 4-2 Huskies.

Unfortunately for the Black Bears they couldn’t mount a comeback despite a Ben Hutton goal late in the game as Maine lost to Northeastern 4-3. This was the Black Bears tenth road loss of the season, as the road woes just never went away.

Ben Hutton tied the single-season goal scoring record among Maine defensemen with 13 as he’s currently tied with Dwight Montgomery in 1979-80, Jack Capuano in 1987-88, and Jeff Tory in 1994-95. He still has two games against Providence to set the record.

Overall it was a disappointing weekend for the Black Bears as they are in the midst of a battle for a home-ice and currently sit in fourth place in Hockey East. They didn’t have that urgency that I was seeing last week as they were outplayed by Northeastern, but fortunately played well enough that they trailed by one goal in the aggregate total of the weekend series. With New Hampshire and Providence right behind them by only one point (NH plays Mer & Prov plays Maine next weekend), there really is no more time to fool around.

Standings as of Feb 22, not factored in is ND’s 2-0 W over BU. courtesy of Hockeyeastonline.com

My closing thought is that this was a lackluster weekend for the Black Bears. They played ok, Northeastern was better than them as they’ve (Huskies) earned their spot moving up to third place in the Hockey East Standings. But the Black Bears still control their own destiny as winning out or a win and UNH loss would clinch home-ice for the Black Bears.

Check back in the mid-week for a preview of next weekend’s series against Providence as well as other Hockey East playoff info as things become more clear in terms of scenarios.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/22/2013-14-season/maine-drop-three-points/feed/0444Lomberg suspended for one gamehttp://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/18/2013-14-season/lomberg-suspended-for-one-game/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/18/2013-14-season/lomberg-suspended-for-one-game/#respondTue, 18 Feb 2014 19:36:19 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=537Maine forward Ryan Lomberg will have to sit out Friday’s game against Northeastern following Hockey East handing down a one game suspension for an elbowing incident during Saturday’s game against Merrimack.

Hockey East stated in a press release this morning

“Hockey East has suspended University of Maine sophomore forward Ryan Lomberg (Richmond Hill, Ont.) for the Black Bears’ next game, due to an elbowing infraction that took place in the Saturday, February 15 game against Merrimack College at Alfond Arena.”

While it doesn’t directly refer to the incident other than that he elbowed someone. But after thinking about it I believe it had to do the with the injury to Merrimack goalie Sam Marotta. On the play where Marotta got injured Lomberg skated within the vicinity of Marotta and got very close to him moments before Marotta went down.

It was revealed after the game that Sam Marotta had a sprained neck as he was forced to leave due to the injury. But we’ll wait to see other reports pinpointing the exact play in question.

Another one that is up for debate was an interference penalty Lomberg received in the second. I missed the play but Lomberg was assessed a minor for interference on Jonathan Lashyn, though Lashyn flopped and was called for embellishment.

CHN’s Mike McMahon offered this alternative on twitter

@aquirko I can't remember. I'm guessing it was the hit on Kolomatis in the 2nd period (interference called) but honestly no clue

Nonetheless Lomberg’s impact is huge as he serves as Shore’s line mate so we’ll see how they far in this huge game on Friday night against the Northeastern Huskies. Lomberg has truly come to form in the last six weeks since American International becoming a force on the team.

Lomberg has played in all 28 games scoring 10 goals and 5 assists totaling 15 points.

]]>http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/18/2013-14-season/lomberg-suspended-for-one-game/feed/0537Maine welcomes familiar foe Merrimack to the Alfondhttp://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/13/2013-14-season/maine-merrimack/
http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/2014/02/13/2013-14-season/maine-merrimack/#respondThu, 13 Feb 2014 17:42:26 +0000http://umainehockeybeat.bangordailynews.com/?p=529The Black Bears will host the Merrimack Warriors for two games this weekend at Alfond Arena.

Marty stopped 75-of-80 shots over the weekend

“There’s four points on the line this weekend, every point is huge.” said Martin Ouellette

This weekend is the last soft weekend for the Black Bears as the schedule only gets tougher as the rest of the season progresses through the final games of the regular season before the Hockey East tournament begins in three weeks.

Maine is coming off a split series at Notre Dame where they managed to win their first road game of the season.

“As a team we battled hard both nights, it was a tough two minutes on Saturday … we played pretty well overall.” -Marty

But some struggles closing out games raises some questions about this team finishing.

“It’s something to look at, it was a weak point in our weekend” said Devin Shore. Red added, “In our Saturday meeting we talked about what went wrong … What happened on Saturday was more psychological than physical. I don’t have any worries about it moving forward. We’ll work real hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

It’ll be something to lookout for as it’s a concern going forward but we’ll see if this was just a fluke. But Gendron hinted that, “It could happen, we’ve all seen that before.”

In recent years Merrimack has just been a thorn in Maine’s side as Merrimack after years of struggle finally started contending in Hockey East over the last few seasons.

In the last three seasons Maine went 4-8-2 against Merrimack. Merrimack got the better of the Black Bears in 2012-13 taking two out of three with the other game being a tie.

These teams met in the 2011 & 2012 Hockey East quarterfinals; 2011 being in Merrimack with the Warriors sweeping Maine and 2012 in Orono with the Black Bears winning the series 2-1.

Standings as of February 13th. courtesy of hockeyeastonline.com

Devin Shore sees that now is the time for this team to make headway in the standings, “There’s six games left in the season, and they’re all pretty much must wins. There’s no more time to waste points, every point is crucial.”

Shore knocks it on the head as Maine is currently in a big battle for 3 spots that would ensure a home series in a quarterfinal matchup. Four points would go a long way for Maine as their remaining opponents after Merrimack include Northeastern and Providence.

But to bring the focus back to this weekend, some of the players are aware of Merrimack. Martin Ouellette said, “We [team] know Merrimack is a hard team to play against.”

“They’re not just gonna hand it to us, we gotta earn it,” said Devin Shore. Any given night anyone could win a game in Hockey East, nothing comes easy in this league. While it could be a great weekend for the Black Bears, they need to work hard for those four points that would be huge towards that bid for the home series.

For this weekend checkout coverage from WMEB 91.9 FM on both nights. Check in around 6:50 pm for the pre game to start followed by puck drop at 7:05 pm. We have a working live stream for those not in the immediate area of Orono. Hope you tune in and stay safe this weekend, check back around Sunday for a recap of this weekend’s action.